The crisis rocking the leadership of the Labour Party, LP, took a deeper dimension on Wednesday when the National Working Committee of the party slammed a six-month suspension on its National Treasurer, Oluchi Opara.
The suspension was officially announced at a media parley held at the party secretariat in Abuja.
Opara had on Monday challenged the LP National Chairman, Julius Abure, at a press conference to account for an alleged N3.5bn raised from the sale of nomination forms and fundraising activities in the build-up to the 2023 general elections.
While speaking on Arise TV’s “Good Morning Show” on Tuesday, Opara again claimed that the Abure-led NWC was secretary working for the Peoples Democratic Party in Edo State ahead of the September 21 governorship election in the state.
Reacting to her weighty allegations on Wednesday, the National Publicity Secretary of LP, Obiora Ifoh, labelled Opara a mole who was being used by dissidents in the party.
Ifoh told journalists that the decision to sanction Opara was taken after she failed to honour an invitation by the party’s NWC to resolve the conflict.
He said, “After the 2023 general elections, the Labour Party was marked for total annihilation by the system for daring to upstage the status quo of the political class. Little did we know that the fumigation was far from complete until late last year when signs emanated that our National Treasurer, Ms Oluchi Opara, a key member of the executive, turned out to be a mole in the house and has continued networking with the expelled members of the party leadership.
“Convinced that the treasurer is on a mission to stifle life out of our very cherished party, an emergency NWC was summoned on February 13. Arising from the meeting, the NWC set up a disciplinary committee to try Opara for bringing the party to disrepute. To exercise its powers as contained in the party’s constitution with the intention of a fair hearing, the NWC extended an invitation to her to appear before it today, February 14, by 10am to discuss the development. The party regrets that the treasurer shunned the invitation by the disciplinary committee to clear herself.
“We see this as an affront to the party leadership and millions of our members who are watching how their party’s image, which they have laboured hard to build. The disciplinary committee has, however, recommended to the National Executive Council of the party through the NWC that Ms Oluchi Opara be suspended from Labour Party for a minimum of six months. This suspension is with immediate effect.
“We sincerely regret this development. We however urge our teeming members to understand that this is a price to pay for success. We will continue to reform the party until we achieve the best, good enough to drive our New Nigeria agenda.”
Efforts made to get Opara to react to her suspension proved unsuccessful.
Madukwe B. Nwabuisi is an accomplished journalist renown for his fearless reporting style and extensive expertise in the field. He is an investigative journalist, who has established himself as a kamikaze reporter.
